What’s that? You have a 10,000 year-old tradition, culture, and lifestyle based on seafood? Too bad, become vegan, or else.

You want to help restore wild salmon to abundance, so healthy fisheries can help feed millions? Tough, shut down your hatcheries and pull your boat out of the water. Start spreading the vegan gospel, or else.

This shouldn’t sound shocking. Paul Watson and his Sea Shepherd followers are open about how they’re willing to use deceit to achieve their goals. They think commercial fishermen are “greedy, stupid” people and that Indigenous People who hunt seafood for subsistence and as part of their culture are “murdering little bastards.”

And like countless churches and religious movements before them, they save their most poisonous venom and odious self-righteousness for supporters and potential allies who dare ask questions.

This was obvious in a recent social media exchange that was deleted from the society’s Facebook page, when a few innocently curious people started asking the wrong questions. The Snarky Intern running the society’s page got caught in a cognitive dissonance loop when they posted a video encouraging people to eat only wild-caught salmon.“I don’t understand why you share it if it doesn’t represent your values,” said one commenter, confused that the fiercely vegan society would promote eating any seafood at all.

Snarky Intern backpedalled, hard, trying to justify the video while at the same time being condescending, and trying to justify why everyone should be a vegan. It didn’t go well, and and Snarky Intern decided to throw the whole conversation down the memory hole instead of owning it.

Good thing the Internet never forgets.

If you are supporting the Sea Shepherd and their “Operation Virus Hunter” campaign, this behaviour should concern you. Do you want to be lied to? Do you like being tricked? Do you approve of being seen as a disposal human shield? Do you mind having your cultural heritage, practices, and beliefs being used as a smokescreen for people who honestly don’t give an organic, granola-filled shit about you?

It’s time to start thinking for yourself, and asking yourself these questions.